For those that can't afford lessons very often....

Tiarella

Tiarella

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What do you do? I'm at a complete dead end with my boy and just seem to be working on the same things at home, getting bored and end up playing in the field and not achieving much else. We are/were competing at nov level getting 64%+ but haven't competed since April as I've been showing instead. Any ideas what I can do to progress?
 
There's lots of youtube channels which could help give you ideas? There was a thread on good ones the other day in tack room....

Video yourself riding. Useful to help you improve.

See if you can watch lessons? At our yard people usually have them on Saturday so if I'm not working I sit and watch 3 or 4 and I actually find it quite useful to then translate back onto my own

Obviously these aren't substitutes for lessons, but like you, I just don't have the money for regular lessons!
 
Yes I need to have a look through YouTube and see if any is relevant to where I am schooling wise. Ahh okay, don't go in tack room all that often will have a nosey :)

Not many people have lessons at my yard and if they do they're from an unqualified busy body instructor that rides at a lower level than me! *eeep!* other than that they're happy hackers!

Just wish I could pay for weekly lessons - we'd may actually get somewhere after 5 years already haha!
 
My dad and I often watch each other schooling and comment on things we think could be improved.

Similar to the YouTube idea, maybe get a book with exercises to try?
I have 101 jumping exercises and I think I have a flatwork book somewhere as well
 
I have 101 schooling exercises and 101 jumping exercises and work my way through random exercises.
I put them in a spreadsheet and then next day at work edit them to ones that I feel went well, ones that didnt and ones that I tried in walk/trot and need to move up a pace in
 
horsehero can be quite good, although mostly aimed at higher level horses or young horses, some of the exercises are quite useful and inspiring.
The BD forum often has some good schooling advice and discussions.
I'm quite lucky that my instructer is only £15 for 45mins and she is fab :)
 
rachaelstar said:
What do you do? I'm at a complete dead end with my boy and just seem to be working on the same things at home, getting bored and end up playing in the field and not achieving much else. We are/were competing at nov level getting 64%+ but haven't competed since April as I've been showing instead. Any ideas what I can do to progress?
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Try online training and lessons. It is much cheaper and allows you to use qualified trainers you may not usually get access to, you don't have to pay for them to travel to you or you to travel to a trainer. I use www.mysft.com where prices start from about £15ish I think and the feedback is absolutely fantastic. It's very easy, cheap but the exercises, tips and advice you get are better than lessons I have had traditionally.

Here is a tradition vs online training comparison http://strides-eventing.co.uk/2013/06/online-vs-traditional-training/

Don't keep yourself in a dead end :) Good Luck!
 
Horse hero, read books, join various online forums/fb pages, try new things, and most importantly - I talk to my instructor between lessons :) I also try to look at photos/vids of myself often. Try not to get disheartened. One thing I found great was my instructor showed me how I can really strengthen my boy up from the ground which was great because not only was he better to ride, but I could SEE the improvements when I felt rubbish, because all I had to do was those exercises & I could see how he stretched more, stepped more, flexed more etc. :D
 
Al competes much less in order to have regular lessons- she goes for a while without competing pretty much, in order to have a glut of lessons and then does a series of events to test it...
 
Maybe try a group clinic they can work out a bit less than an instructor coming to you, or join a riding club and have group lessons through them again alot cheaper. My daughter has her lessons through her pc, £12 a lesson that way if she had a lesson I've booked with the same lady it would be £25 for half an hour.
 
Find a good coach who appreciates that you are on a budget and can work with you to put training plans and exercises together. They should also run exercises in a way that ensures you understand exactly what you are doing to achieve the results you are getting in the lesson and how to replicate it on your own (or as much as possible). Get them to give you homework to work on. Many will happily give you a little feedback or advice via email between sessions.

You may end up paying a little more for each lesson but you will find the time in between much more beneficial.
 
I felt that watching videos of myself made a world of difference. I have some things that I hate about my riding (not sitting up straight and riding with stupidly long reins so my hands end up in my lap) so I have vowed to break both habits, and seeing footage has helped so much!
 
Have you got a competition centre near you that runs clinics or lessons with decent trainers? If so, why not pop along and watch some? It's free, you learn lots and get to see all sorts of different exercises. If you help poo pick or pick up poles you will make yourself very popular too ;)
 
Will google horsehero in a sec, never heard of it before!

rowy said:
horsehero can be quite good, although mostly aimed at higher level horses or young horses, some of the exercises are quite useful and inspiring.
The BD forum often has some good schooling advice and discussions.
I'm quite lucky that my instructer is only £15 for 45mins and she is fab :)
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Do you have to be a member of BD to go on their forum? Yes you are sooo lucky, I asked her a while back but its just a bit too far to travel :( Maybe I could pack Dougs bags and send him there for a few weeks ;)
 
ruth83 said:
Find a good coach who appreciates that you are on a budget and can work with you to put training plans and exercises together. They should also run exercises in a way that ensures you understand exactly what you are doing to achieve the results you are getting in the lesson and how to replicate it on your own (or as much as possible). Get them to give you homework to work on. Many will happily give you a little feedback or advice via email between sessions.

You may end up paying a little more for each lesson but you will find the time in between much more beneficial.
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I had a fabulous coach that came to my yard once a week and rode him for half hour to get a feel of him and then teach me for 20-30 min after and that was fantastic but it came to £38 incl travel and just couldnt afford it :(
 
ruth83 said:
Find a good coach who appreciates that you are on a budget and can work with you to put training plans and exercises together. They should also run exercises in a way that ensures you understand exactly what you are doing to achieve the results you are getting in the lesson and how to replicate it on your own (or as much as possible). Get them to give you homework to work on. Many will happily give you a little feedback or advice via email between sessions.

You may end up paying a little more for each lesson but you will find the time in between much more beneficial.
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This, absolutely. The one who came once a week, rode him for 30 mins and taught you for 20 doesn't sound like good value for money - she shouldn't need to ride him for half an hour "to get the feel of him" let alone do it once a week! A good coach should be able to help you far more cost effectively. I have clients who are open about the fact that they can't afford to come every week - we make plans around that, and I try and give them lots of exercises as "homework" to do in between lessons, as well as try to give them coping strategies for when things aren't going according to plan. Seems to work ok - and I'm always on the end of a phone or FB if they have a query.

I certainly get very demotivated in your situation, so I would take the trouble to find a coach you like and budget for monthly lessons :)
 
TableDancer said:
This, absolutely. The one who came once a week, rode him for 30 mins and taught you for 20 doesn't sound like good value for money - she shouldn't need to ride him for half an hour "to get the feel of him" let alone do it once a week! A good coach should be able to help you far more cost effectively. I have clients who are open about the fact that they can't afford to come every week - we make plans around that, and I try and give them lots of exercises as "homework" to do in between lessons, as well as try to give them coping strategies for when things aren't going according to plan. Seems to work ok - and I'm always on the end of a phone or FB if they have a query.

I certainly get very demotivated in your situation, so I would take the trouble to find a coach you like and budget for monthly lessons :)
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I asked her to ride him for me to help with his training as im not that experienced looking for little errors/things to change and it did him the world of good!

Its also quite difficult as the better type coaches round here arent used to teaching a 20yo on a 13.3hh new forest pony :p :D
 
Try asking someone to video you riding and watch it back, okay not ideal a lesson better but this would help you to see what maybe going wrong and help you to identify areas that you can work on and try correct next time you school. Then take another video a couple of weeks or a week later and compare the two?
 
TableDancer said:
This, absolutely. The one who came once a week, rode him for 30 mins and taught you for 20 doesn't sound like good value for money - she shouldn't need to ride him for half an hour "to get the feel of him" let alone do it once a week! A good coach should be able to help you far more cost effectively. I have clients who are open about the fact that they can't afford to come every week - we make plans around that, and I try and give them lots of exercises as "homework" to do in between lessons, as well as try to give them coping strategies for when things aren't going according to plan. Seems to work ok - and I'm always on the end of a phone or FB if they have a query.

I certainly get very demotivated in your situation, so I would take the trouble to find a coach you like and budget for monthly lessons :)
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This!!! (and the original comment too). I've had trainers with whom once a month is plenty. Kenneth Clawson was one whom I could see two or three times a year and gain enough to last a good 6-8 weeks afterwards. They need to be 'holistic' - ie. not necessarily about what you're doing on the day, but discuss your plans, help you work towards specific goals. Like TD says someone who helps you put a plan in place for what to do when it's not working and ideally who will be available for a panic text from a competition warm-up when you've forgotten what they said about x, y or z!

Ultimately I felt that financially I was spreading myself too thin with two competition horses and the casualty was training. I've put one horse out on loan and have already had more lessons on the remaining one than I'd had in the previous 3 months.
 
I don't get them very often because I'm at uni and so most of my riding time during uni terms is just spent trying to remind Wilby that he can canter - lessons wouldn't be so beneficial then!

However, this summer I'm going to try having a few more lessons as I really want Wilby to step up a level. A few people on the yard have started having lessons with a pro-dressage rider's working pupil; she really knows her stuff (has been on the young rider squad I think) but is much much cheaper than her 'boss', plus it reduces her transport costs by a few of us having lessons on the same day :) Due to me being on placement a lot this summer my lessons will probably only be every other week/every three weeks, but even from my first lesson with L I've got loads of exercises to work on with Wilby, so next time she comes those things should be cemented in!
 
TableDancer said:
This, absolutely. The one who came once a week, rode him for 30 mins and taught you for 20 doesn't sound like good value for money - she shouldn't need to ride him for half an hour "to get the feel of him" let alone do it once a week! A good coach should be able to help you far more cost effectively. I have clients who are open about the fact that they can't afford to come every week - we make plans around that, and I try and give them lots of exercises as "homework" to do in between lessons, as well as try to give them coping strategies for when things aren't going according to plan. Seems to work ok - and I'm always on the end of a phone or FB if they have a query.

I certainly get very demotivated in your situation, so I would take the trouble to find a coach you like and budget for monthly lessons :)
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I agree very much with the idea of talking to your instructor about your budget and how most effectively spend your money. I find it can often help to have a few lessons close together to address a specific issue of leading up to important competitions, and then take a bit of a break so the student can regroup and really "bed in" the work we've been doing.

I'm not sure I wholly agree with the idea that having someone ride a horse is useless/exploitive. Depending on what's going on, I find in some situations it can be quickest, easiest (and least expensive) to ride the horse to "set it up" and then put the student back on to feel where they need to be and discuss how best to get back to this place when working on their own. "Feel" is such an essential part of riding and changing the feel on a horse you ride every day is actually very difficult. This applies to the horse, too - sometimes the best route is for someone to say clearly to the horse "do this instead" and completely shift gears, rather than trying to chip away at a problem.

I do understand that people want to do it themselves - and I totally respect that and would never ride a horse against the owner's best interests - but I've had a larger number of situations where a few rides on the horse can completely turn the boat around, showing both horse and owner what's possible. In the end, they end up spending less time and money to get to the same place and then spend more time practicing doing it right, which is what makes a better rider in the long run.
 
TarrSteps said:
I'm not sure I wholly agree with the idea that having someone ride a horse is useless/exploitive. Depending on what's going on, I find in some situations it can be quickest, easiest (and least expensive) to ride the horse to "set it up" and then put the student back on to feel where they need to be and discuss how best to get back to this place when working on their own. "Feel" is such an essential part of riding and changing the feel on a horse you ride every day is actually very difficult. This applies to the horse, too - sometimes the best route is for someone to say clearly to the horse "do this instead" and completely shift gears, rather than trying to chip away at a problem.
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No, sorry, I didn't mean to imply riding the horse is useless/exploitative as I don't believe that :rolleyes: However, in a situation where time and funds are limited, I don't think that the ratio of trainer riding to pupil riding (ie more the former than the latter) is as helpful as it could be. I often get on pupils' horses but try to limit it to 10 minutes or so, then put them back on board so they can feel it for themselves. And to do it week in week out wouldn't feel right to me, unless it was for a specific, well-defined purpose. In fairness, once rachaelstar had explained further, it would appear this was indeed the case, it was the original description of riding him weekly for more than half the lesson to "get the feel for him" that I objected to ;) Even so, in that situation where she really needs structure and homework to help her with her regular schooling sessions I still don't think it was the best approach.

In general, and not referring to this specific situation, If I'm being brutally honest, I think excessive riding in lessons is lazy coaching, which we have probably all been guilty of occasionally - if I am feeling very uninspired and can't think of a creative lesson plan I have been known to spend half the time riding the horse. Hopefully :o the client is so happy at the way the horse feels afterwards they won't notice they haven't had much of a lesson :eek: Of course there are times when we need to help a horse through a specific issue, or feel something which is hard to see from the ground, or maybe the client wants us to give the horse a decent workout because they aren't feeling on top form themselves - however, in the general scheme of things I think coaching is about teaching the client to ride the horse not getting on and doing the job ourselves :D

Of course, being paid to get on and school a horse is something else entirely :)
 
I guess so long as the client is happy, the horse is progressing, and the budget is respected then that's the main thing. :)

I do know what you mean - I have seen "lessons" that are basically the instructor playing around with the client's nice horse for an hour - but I do think it's quite individual in cases where the horse is very green (possibly with a greener rider) or has a specific problem. I have horses I never get on and ones I ride much more regularly. Depends where we are and where we want to go, I guess. I think even in the latter cases though as things progress then the balance should shift eventually to the owner completely, although having ridden a horse in the past can be very helpful. I often get calls from people I don't even teach any more asking if I'll have a sit on a horse if it has hit a bump or there are questions about soundness etc. It's just a useful tool in the box, like everything else.
 
I certainly used my instructor to ride/school my horse to plug the gap a bit when I was very hard up - she charged about half the price for this compared to for lessons and it benefited the horse and me. I had a lesson a month and probably two sessions in between where she schooled the horse.

However I agree with the general consensus that if you pay for a lesson the majority of it should be you riding your horse. I like instructors to get on and feel what I'm struggling with but then they need to get off and tell me how to fix it!
 
rachaelstar said:
Its also quite difficult as the better type coaches round here arent used to teaching a 20yo on a 13.3hh new forest pony :p :D
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Is this what they have told you or what you have assumed? If it is the former then that is rather unprofessional and they should be working to adapt to the client demand!

A good coach will adapt to the partnership they are working with, they may have a knowledge gap which they will need to fill through discussion with other parties (for example I was asked to compete a Dales pony recently. Although I am fairly well versed in showing, M&Ms are not my speciality and Dales even less so. Therefore I went out and asked what the specifics were!) but they should be able to teach a variety of horses and ponies.

Do not assume that those with the best competition results or those who shout the loudest are the best instructors (or vice versa for that matter!). As around for opinion on coaching styles and coaching results!
 
Try iride. Alison short is behind it. You can download a training session to you mp3/phone and listen as you ride if you so wish! Might be worth a go. Otherwise youtube is great for ideas a lot of pros have channels.
 
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